"Ask these rebels if they know what the parable means. Tell them that the king of Babylonia came to Jerusalem and took the king and his officials back with him to Babylonia.

You have no right to crush my people and take advantage of the poor. I, the Sovereign LORD Almighty, have spoken."

But who are you, my friend, to talk back to God? A clay pot does not ask the man who made it, "Why did you make me like this?"

"Mortal man," he said, "look toward the mountains of Israel and give them my message.

Tell the mountains of Israel to hear the Sovereign LORD's word---to hear what I, the Sovereign LORD, am telling the mountains, the hills, the gorges, and the valleys: I will send a sword to destroy the places where people worship idols.

"Mortal man," he said, "this is what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to the land of Israel: This is the end for the whole land!

Tell them to listen to what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying: You were delighted to see my Temple profaned, to see the land of Israel devastated, to see the people of Judah go into exile.

The LORD said, "Mortal man, speak to the mountains of Israel and tell them to listen to the message which I,

"Prophesy, then, and announce what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying. When the neighboring nations captured and plundered the mountains of Israel, everyone made fun of Israel.

"I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken out in the heat of my anger against the surrounding nations, and especially against Edom. With glee and contempt they captured my land and took possession of its pastures.

God said to me, "Mortal man, the people of Israel are like these bones. They say that they are dried up, without any hope and with no future.

tell them that I, the Sovereign LORD, am going to take the stick representing Israel and put it with the one that represents Judah. Out of the two I will make one stick and hold it in my hand.

They will live on the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They will live there forever, and so will their children and all their descendants. A king like my servant David will rule them forever.

I will make all the people of the world horrified at them because of what Hezekiah's son Manasseh did in Jerusalem when he was king of Judah."

When that time comes, people will no longer say, 'The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.'

Instead, those who eat sour grapes will have their own teeth set on edge; and everyone will die because of their own sin."

Our ancestors sinned, but now they are gone, and we are suffering for their sins.

I tell you indeed: the punishment for all these murders will fall on the people of this day!